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Sikhumbuzo Moyo, Senior Sports Reporter
THE Sports and Recreation Commission was established on September 1, 1991, through an act of Parliament, with part of its mandate being to register and regulate all national sports associations.

Article 4 of the SRC Act provides for the establishment of the board of commissioners that constitute a board chairman and not fewer than five and not more than nine other members appointed by the Minister of Sport after consultation with the President.

According to Article 19, the Commission has 16 objectives, which are to coordinate, control, develop and foster the activities of sport and recreation, to ensure the proper administration of organisations undertaking the promotion of sport and recreation, to promote the highest standards of sporting and recreational activity, to authorise national and international sporting and recreational activities, to advise the government of the needs of sport and recreation, to endeavour to ensure that opportunities for sport and recreation are made available to all persons throughout Zimbabwe, to endeavour to provide coaches, instructors, and courses for sports, either free or on the payment of reasonable fees, to assist registered national associations, registered clubs and schools in the recruitment of coaches and instructors and to endeavour to ensure that recreational facilities are established in such work places as the board considers appropriate.

It also has to establish, maintain and operate establishments for the accommodation of visiting sports teams or recreational clubs or groups of persons engaged in furtherance of the purpose of the Act, to undertake special projects with the approval of the Minister, including fundraising, marketing and trading activities, to negotiate with registered clubs and registered national associations to ensure that recreational facilities are fully utilised, to oversee training programmes for sportspersons, to develop, supervise and manage sporting goods, to encourage the production of sporting goods, to determine, grant and supervise national sports awards to outstanding sportspersons and sports administrators.

From the 16 listed objectives, it is clear that the country’s supreme sports body is an all too powerful organisation that if it chooses to live by the book, most of the country’s sports problems, especially at national sports association level, will not exist.

The SRC just needs to ensure that it reads the riot act and whips sports associations or even clubs into line and not behave like a barking caged dog.

We have associations that have perennially been non-compliant with the SRC Act yet they still continue to function. We have associations that on any given occasion blatantly violate or abuse their constitution yet the SRC has not done anything to them.

As it is, the PSL has 18 teams yet the Zifa constitution, which the SRC is in possession of, only recognises 16 teams. Why is the SRC quiet?

Yes, a resolution was reached by the Zifa congress to increase the number of clubs to 18, but due process in terms of Article 29, subsections 5, 6 and 7 was never followed, rendering that resolution null and void.

It’s high time the SRC developed teeth and bites offenders instead of just barking like a caged dog.